- What is integration?
- Social integration
- Economic integration
- Administration integration
- Educational integration
- Sensory integration
We explain what integration is in various areas. In addition, social, economic, educational, sensory and administrative integration.
What is integration?
There are different meanings of the word integration. However, as the Dictionary of the Spanish Language suggests, all the possible meanings of this word have to do with the relationship between the whole and its parts or components.
That is to say that generally to integrate It has to do with forming a larger unit from smaller units, as it happens precisely with the members of a team of football, with the inverse calculation to the mathematical derivative, or with the acquisition of new concepts integrating them to the already constituted knowledge.
Thus, every time we talk about integration, in the many areas in which we can do it, we refer to the idea of capturing, adding, entering portions, data, individualities or ideas to a much larger whole, in which, we assume, they would have a place of their own and could be part of something larger and more significant.
It is possible to use this term in social, economic, administrative and educational spheres, as we will see separately below.
Social integration
We speak of social integration to refer to the process of incorporating isolated individuals into a majority group or community, often implying their symbolic acceptance, their political representation or the formalization of their ways of life. This is necessary, for example, with persons who are in a marginalized situation.
This type of process is usually of a vindictive type and is often accompanied by an improvement in vital conditions, since integrated individuals are now taken into account.
Specific social integration procedures can be economic, social, political or even discursive. They all have in common objective that the individuals of a society they are an active part of it, that is, they do not constitute outcasts or wandering elements. Joining the entire community implies enjoying benefits and fulfilling duties.
Economic integration
For its part, economic integration has to do with the mutual benefit of the nations by abolishing in a reciprocal and organized way the fiscal or trade barriers that could separate their economies. This integration occurs following treaties and conventions.
Thus, integration occurs between economies from different countries, forming economic blocks more powerful, thanks to which to be able to sign more demanding international treaties, and moving towards the mutual benefit of the associated nations. In some cases, organizations are also undergoing economic integration processes.
Currently there are numerous economic integration blocs, such as the ‘Euro’ Zone in Europe, Mercosur, the Andean Pact, among many others, thanks to which countries can organize regionally around principles of mutual economic development.
For example, there is often talk a lot about Latin American integration, not only economic, but also political and social, given the historical and cultural similarities between the nations of this region. region.
Administration integration
In the administrative area, on the other hand, it is common to speak of integration to refer to the obtaining and articulation of the different resources necessary for the proper functioning of a organization or one business, that is, as a synonym for adding to the company or joining it. These administrative integration processes are classified into two different types:
- Integration of human resources. Or the recruitment of qualified personnel for the performance of the different tasks of the company, at the different necessary levels, from a process circuit that includes recruitment (approach of people to the company), selection (election of the most suitable candidates suitable for each vacant position), introduction (adaptation of the candidate to the company) and development (fostering the growth of the employee within the company).
- Integration of material resources. Also known as the process of shopping, in which the essential assets are acquired to start or sustain the operation of the company, whether they are tools (machinery, furniture, locations), services (maintenance, updating) or financial resources (capitals and financing).
Educational integration
Integration in the education (generally linked to the beginning of schooling) is the series of processes and provisions that aim to adapt the child to the community and the educational process. It takes into account their family, social and economic context, through case studies, progress monitoring and various types of study incentives.
This is a complex dynamic, especially in special education cases for various reasons. Seen in this way, educational integration is the opening of the main or majority pattern of formal education, to accommodate the individual needs of each child, thus managing to attract and recover those who may be more likely to drop out of school.
Sensory integration
The Sensory Integration Theory was created by the American neuroscientist A. Jean Ayres in the 1970s from studies of children with difficulties with learning. According to this theory, sensory integration is the neurological process of organizing information reported by the senses, to orchestrate a unified panorama of being and context.
Accordingly, the observable way in which the human being behaves (called Final product) has to do directly with the functioning of the different sensory systems of the body, and with the capacity for organized integration that the brain can make of various stimuli.
Thus, an occupational therapist trained in the subject could propose to a child with difficulties in learning, concentrating, mentally organizing or even with mental weaknesses. self esteem, a series of sensory experiences to strengthen your sensory integration processes.
For more information about it, we can take a look here.